Lanny

Lanny is a 2019 magical realist novel by English author Max Porter. Set in an unnamed town in the countryside of present-day England, it follows a couple, Robert and Jolie Lloyd, who struggle to connect to their enigmatic son, Lanny. Their quest to understand their son takes many metaphorical turns as their fears and anxieties about parenthood are manifested in the figure of a mythological creature, Dead Papa Toothwort. Through a series of mysterious events involving Toothwort, Robert and Jolie reconceive what it means to be a parent. The novel has been celebrated for its observations about intimacy and other fantasies of belonging in the modern era. It was longlisted for the Man Booker Prize, one of the highest awards in English literature, in the year of its publication.

Lanny takes place entirely in rural England. Jolie and Robert Lloyd are parents to Lanny, whose age is never explicitly given. Certain parts of the plot hint at Lanny being in first or second grade. Lanny has lived his entire life in this town, where his parents moved when he was born to establish a quaint existence. Robert works at an office in London, commuting each day and leaving Jolie to take care of Lanny. Though odd and without many friends, Lanny is a creative and good-spirited child. Nevertheless, Jolie worries that she has failed at being a good mother to him. Robert, meanwhile, feels that he doesn’t understand or relate to his son.

While Lanny attends grade school, Jolie, a former actor, dabbles in fiction writing. Her publisher has secured funding for her to write and publish a crime novel. Jolie’s work is complicated somewhat by her anxieties about raising Lanny the “wrong” way, which makes her sensitive to the fact that her work’s themes and imagery are too mature for children. Around this time, Jolie forms a friendship with Peter Blythe, a famous artist who has recently moved from London. Though Jolie knows who Pete is, the villagers, unfamiliar with the art world, perceive his personality and work as erratic, nicknaming him “Mad Pete.” Jolie asks Pete to give Lanny art lessons, and he obliges. He and Lanny quickly find that they get along fantastically.



Next, the plot takes a supernatural turn: the creature Dead Papa Toothwort is shown lingering on the outskirts of town. The Dead Papa Toothwort is the mythological repository of the changing zeitgeist of England, from its founding into modernity. Toothwort observes Lanny and becomes obsessed with him to the point where he plots to steal Lanny away. When Lanny finally goes missing without a trace, it is implied that Toothwort is responsible, unbeknownst to the adults.

The town police investigate Lanny’s disappearance, and the townspeople split up into search parties. No one finds Lanny or any clue as to his whereabouts. The townspeople, a suspicious bunch, start to suspect that Robert, Pete, and/or Jolie are hiding something; gossip spreads that they have hurt Lanny. The case of his disappearance makes it to national news, increasing the pressure on Lanny’s innocent family.

Just as the case starts to seem hopeless, Jolie, Robert, and Pete are independently visited in their sleep by Toothwort, on the same night. Toothwort bids them go to the town’s meeting hall. There, they find Toothwort himself. Toothwort forces each of them to undergo a trial to prove the value of their relationship with Lanny. The three complete the challenge successfully; after Jolie finishes, she awakes in the middle of the forest, as if from a bad dream. She finds Lanny beside her, who has been given up by Toothwort. Lanny’s symbolic ending suggests that love can resolve even the most painful feelings of alienation and oddness experienced by children.